Departmental Papers (Jewish Studies)
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of this Version
2009
Publication Source
Mishneh Todah: Studies in Deuteronomy and Its Cultural Environment in honor of Jeffrey H. Tigay
Start Page
3
Last Page
14
Abstract
For many years, it has been common to point to the Joseph story, Genesis 37-50, as being fundamentally different from the rest of Genesis "in that its author(s) or redactor(s) brought to their material a superior literary craftsmanship which enabled them to create a single, sustained narrative work whose parts are organically related to one another."¹ At the same time, it remains easy to detect the traditional J, E, and P sources in the story, as noted (for example) in the Anchor Bible commentary of E. A. Speiser.² It is understandable that these sources could be assembled into a narration like that of Genesis 6-9, where the contradictions about how many of each animal were taken on board and so forth show relatively clearly the seams where previously existing volumes of the story were assembled into a single text. But how could these prefabricated pieces be put together to form a work of "superior literary craftsmanship"?
Copyright/Permission Statement
Originally published in Mishneh Todah: Studies in Deuteronomy and Its Cultural Environment in honor of Jeffrey H. Tigay by Eisenbrauns, reproduced here with permission. The original volume is available for purchase at http://www.eisenbrauns.com/item/FOXMISHNE.
Recommended Citation
Carasik, M. (2009). A Deuteronomic Voice in the Joseph Story. In Fox, N.S., Glatt-Gilad, D.A., and Williams, M.J. (Eds.), Mishneh Todah: Studies in Deuteronomy and Its Cultural Environment in honor of Jeffrey H. Tigay (pp. 3-14). Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns.
Date Posted: 03 August 2017